Easter Weekend on the Island

Weather has been great! Sunny and relatively warm. We have gone down to the water at Kin Beach, and played at the park there.

We have had a fire in the backyard, to rid Gramma and Poppa of their spring branch pile. Peekaboo had the job of dragging all the branches over to the fire pit!

Gramma and Peekaboo have been doing some gardening as well.

More Comox fun!

Here, in Comox, the number of little motorized carts that are driven around by seniors is astounding. Well, my father got one for my Grandma to use when she came out to visit...She didn't come...but Dad still has the cart....Apparently it makes a fun toy!Wow! What a crew! They must be all related! And yes, my goofy daughter is wearing ear protectors...the Snowbirds were practising...

OK, to be honest, it does look fun-next time I am driving!

Ezra is getting in touch with his inner outdoorsman! He discovered Gramma's garden and applauded her efforts! I think he has come to realize the joys of not having to wear every article of clothing he owns in order to go outside!

Comox fun (so far!)

Gramma and Poppa fully outfitted themselves for a visit from the "Grandkids". There is a tunnel with a tent, which is great fun!

Ezra (and Poppa) have spent lots of time in it! There is also a full Graco baby system with stroller, car seat, swing, playpen, snugglie, and diaper bag-a bit hit with Peekaboo. There is a Dora, plastic trike-thingy, wheelbarrow, froggie sandbox with all the trimmings....and....the Snowbirds!

Peekaboo is not thrilled with the Snowbirds...those of you who know her well, know that she doesn't like loud noises-not much louder than 9 jets flying over your house...over and over and over and....!

Oh, Yeah...

And just a word on how AWESOME our kids are....

They are AWESOME!!! Saturday was spent driving from Hay River to Yellowknife-a boring trip for an adult...And yet, they did extremely well. We slept in a hotel that night, again-a difficult and new thing, they were both awesome. Yesterday, we had to wake them up extra early, drag them to the airport, sit around with nothing interesting to do, then ride a small airplane for over 2 hours...No in-seat tv's, no meals served, no colouring book and crayons provided by the airline...Good thing Mommy knows how to pack a carry-on!! Peekaboo kept herself occupied fairly well for the trip. I fed them both almost constantly. Horray for the lovely lady in Yellowknife who checked us in. The flight was not full, so she put Peekaboo and I across the aisle from each other, and the window seat beside me remained "empty" so that Ezra had his own seat. I had a car seat with me, presumably for Peekaboo, but we installed it for Ezra and WOW what a relief! He sat in it, quite happily, for the duration of the flight. The second little hop, from Vancouver to Nanaimo, was only 20 minutes...But, 20 minutes of him on my lap was LOTS!! I hope the plane back up to Yellowknife on the 24th is only half full too!!
So, picture if you can, Peekaboo in her seat. She was wearing....you guessed it, Pink. There was a gentleman in the window seat beside her....full Harley duds! Ponytail, sunglasses, black shirt and pants, big boots, goatee.....It was very funny! Peekaboo opened her surprise playhouse that I made for her, and this guy was playing "Princesses" with her! Turns out he has a 2 year-old granddaughter and 1 year-old grandson! It was a very cute picture!! Wish I had a camera with me!!

Yay!! Spring!!

The kids and I made it to beautiful, snow-free, Comox-yahoo!! Peekaboo is thrilled that there is "no snow here, Mommy!" We arrived at Dad and Liz's late in the afternoon yesterday-after a brief shopping spree in Nanaimo-and the kids were outside immediately! I sat Ezra down in the grass on the front lawn....hilarious! He hasn't seen grass since last summer, and I think he forgot it! He wouldn't put his hands down for the longest time, and when he finally did he made the craziest face! Now, of course, he loves it-apparently it is very tasty, as it is in his mouth constantly.

We went out today to run a few errands (holy, can I just comment on how cheap diapers are down here!?!) and stopped at a park. Planted Ezra in a swing-he sure wasn't completely convinced that was a good idea! He didn't cry, but he looked mighty concerned!

We made the required stop at "Gramma and Poppa's orange store...The one with the car carts, Mommy" (I don't have the heart to tell her that the store doesn't actually belong to Gramma and Poppa!)

After supper, of lovely organic home-made minestrone soup and fresh baked buns, Peekaboo had "a great idea. How about a hot tub instead of a bath tonight, Mommy?!" How could I refuse!?

Bring-your-own dollhouse!

So, Ezra got a really cute little barn for Christmas. It is soft, portable, and it got my imagination all fired up! I went online and found a 'tutorial' for a little dollhouse. I made a few changes, added a few details that I wanted and 'voila'!

I made this one for Peekaboo (this is version #3!) I have kept it hidden from her and plan to give it to her on Sunday on the plane, hoping it keeps her occupied for part of the flight. Tim and I found her staring at a package of Princesses in True Value last Saturday, tiny little versions of Cinderella and Snow White. I made this house a good size for them, and sewed 'pockets' into the walls, to hold them. (the one in the background was version #2, slightly smaller, 2 handles instead of one...will be perfect for Peekaboo's friend's birthday in May)This was version #1. I started this all by wanting to make a neat birthday present for Jacob. I made his a traveling circus. It has velcro instead of buttons (I don't think Jacob can work buttons yet!) and I added some Little People circus critters!

Rag Denim Quilt

So, the handprint quilt...Huge money-maker for the PlaySchool Auction in May...3 of them needed by the 9th...Here is number one. I have only made one other quilt in my life, a rag quilt for Peekaboo out of flannel. Did some research online about the merits of using denim for this application, so thought I would give it a go. The denim pieces are just denim backed with flannel. The handprints are done on lightweight canvas, so I put flat batting in between. On the back I made the denim pieces backed with purple, the handprints are backed with a purple/pink/cartoon car flannel (just to add some colour!!)

My carpet has billions of little pieces of string from cutting all the edges-good grief!! Only 2 more to go! I don't know which will give out first, my scissors or my wrist....